Olympic basketball preview: Upsets and surprises in store

The draw of Men's basketball competition in 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (Photo courtesy of FIBA)

If the warm-up games are anything to go by, the Olympic men's basketball tournament is wide open.

TOKYO, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The United States lost to Nigeria and Australia, Argentina lost to Nigeria, Japan beat Spain -- upsets and surprises were the headlines in the Tokyo 2020 basketball warm-up games.

With six days to go, the Olympics men's basketball competition seems anything but a sure thing for the powerhouses, with several supposed underdogs increasingly gaining in confidence.

After 39 wins in the last three Olympic seasons, including exhibitions, Team USA tasted its first loss on July 10 when it was upset by Nigeria 90-87.

Two days later, the Americans lost their second straight match, going down 91-83 to Australia.

Dating back to the 2019 World Cup, Team USA has now lost four out of its last five internationals and two in a row to Australia.

All-Star Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard led the U.S. squad, but it dropped to No. 3 in the FIBA rankings after the two losses.

Indeed, the US is still the top favorite to win the Olympic gold, but it may be a more arduous journey than many might have imagined.

Team USA is not the only team skulking in the shadows while the underdogs are hogging the limelight.

World No. 4 and former Olympic champion Argentina was thrashed by Nigeria 94-71 on July 12.

Argentina, which triumphed at Athens 2004, was missing star players like Emanuel Ginobili and Andres Nocioni, with veteran Luis Scola attending his fifth Olympics at 41.

Led by Mike Brown, the former Golden State Warriors assistant coach, the Nigerian team is studded with former NBA players like Gabe Vincent, Chikezie Okpala and Precious Achiuwa of the Miami Heat.

After consecutive wins over top teams, the African team is dreaming of its first-ever basketball Olympic medal.

On Sunday, host Japan stunned France 81-75 in Saitama, which was the third straight loss for the world No. 7 team, also among the favorites for the Olympic podium.

Having already lost twice to Spain - 86-77 in Malaga and 87-79 in Paris - the French team, featuring Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum, Evan Fournier, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Frank Ntilikina, is already anxious.

The lowest-ranked team at Tokyo 2020, Japan, played the typical role of a modest host nation, before beating Belgium 87-59 and Hungary 79-58 ahead of their home Olympics.

Washington Wizards forward Rui Hachimura and his team want to show the world that Japan is playing the Olympics as a host and as a real contender.

For fans, the Tokyo 2020 basketball tournament is shaping up to be one of the most open in history.